Camera Control/Image Processing Software

Section I.  SELECTING THE CORRECT SOFTWARE

SBIG has several software packages supporting its various cameras on the PC, Macintosh and Windows platforms.  The software titles are aranged on this page according to operating system.  These packages have image acquisition and image processing functions:

• CCDSoft version 5 beta is new (Jan., 2001) Windows 95/98/NT software for SBIG parallel based cameras.
• CCD, CCDUTIL, CCDBLINK and CCDTRACK are DOS packages for the ST-4 only.
• CCDOPS for DOS supports the ST-4X, ST-5, ST-5C, ST-6, ST-7, ST-8, ST-9, ST-10, PixCel 255 and PixCel 237.
• CCDOPS for DOS will also read and process STV images and save STV images in TIFF and FITS formats.
• CCDOPS for Win 3.1 supports the ST-7 and ST-8 only.
• CCDOPS for Win 95/98/NT supports the ST-4X, ST-5, ST-5C, ST-6, ST-7, ST-8, ST-9, ST-10, PixCel 255 and PixCel 237.
• CCDOPS for Mac supports the ST-4X, ST-5, ST-5C, ST-6, ST-7, ST-7, ST-8, ST-9, PixCel 255 and PixCel 237.
• CCDOPS for Win 95/98/NT and CCDOPS for Mac will also read and process STV images and save STV iamges in TIFF and FITS formats.
• CCDSHARP for Windows 95 package has specialized Lucy Richardson image processing capabilities for all cameras except the ST-4.
• ImCap for Windows 95/98 supports the ST-4 imaging functions.  ImCap is a freeware package made available with permission of the author.

These files (except ImCap) are the latest production release of the SBIG Camera Control and Image Processing Software. They read and display SBIG native image formats. These are full working copies and can be used for evaluation or to upgrade your existing software if you are using a previous version with an SBIG camera.

Selecting to right software depends upon your computing platform and the camera you wish to support, or images you wish to process. Use the table at the top of this page to determine which software is right for your needs.

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Section II.  MS/PC DOS Users

• ST-4X, ST-5, ST-5C, ST-6, ST-7, ST-8, ST-9, ST-10 and STV* users should download ops390.zip [Released ver 3.90] which has been updated to support the ST-10. You might want to review the other changes made in the Readme File which is also included in the archive.  The latest version of the CCDOPS Manual is also available in PDF format.   Please note that the manual covers all the features of CCDOPS for DOS, Windows 95 and Macintosh.
  * Note: CCDOPS does not control the STV but it will read and process original STV images and it will also save STV image files in TIFF and FITS format.

• ST-4 users should download CCD.ZIP [ver 2.08] and CCDUTIL.ZIP.
  CCD controls the ST-4 camera for image acquisition and CCDUTIL allows you to make TIFF and FITS files from ST-4 images and offers other handy image processing functions not found in the ST-4's CCD software.  Don't forget to get the manuals for both programs:  CCD Manual (PDF format) and CCDUTIL Manual (PDF format).

• ST-4 users interested in using the ST-4 as a blink comparator should download CCDBLINK.ZIP and the manual CCDBLINK.PDF.  For a description of the program see the page CCDBLINK PAGE.  This program allows you to load two ST-4 images and blink them in rapid succession to easily see if any object in the field of view has moved between the frames.
  
  
• ST-4 users who desire to remotely control the tracking functions of the ST-4 should download CCDTRACK.ZIP and the manual CCDTRACK.PDF.  For a description of the program see the CCDTRACK PAGE.  This program transfers all of the autoguide functions of the ST-4 to a remote computer up to 100 feet away from the ST-4 control box.   CCDTRACK also offers a number of features not available with the ST-4 in stand alone mode such as text and graphic displays showing the tracking accuracy in real time during the guiding session and the accumulated error of the guide star image.
     
• All Cameras including ST-4 and STV:  http://apwww.stmarys.ca/~dlane/dlane.html

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Section III.  Windows 3.1 Users

• SBIG has two software packages for Windows. The original CCDOPS for Windows 3.1 is a 16 bit software package that supports the ST-7 and ST-8 only.  It runs under Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 and is available free of charge to all users.  ST-7/ST-8 users may select this link to download CCDOPSW.ZIP [ver 1.09]. 
  
• If you're using the older CCDOPS for Windows version 1.x then you should download an updated version of the ST-7 Driver DLL ST7DLL.ZIP [ver 2.50].
  Instructions: Unzip and copy this file into your CCDOPSW directory and reboot your computer.

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Section IV.  Windows 95/98/NT Users

All SBIG cameras with parallel interface (ST-5C, ST-237, ST-7, ST-8, ST-9, ST-10):

• CCDSoft Version 5 beta:  SBIG and Software Bisque have jointly written CCDSoft version 5 which now incorporates CCDOPS version 5 for Windows 95/98/NT.  This software is much more than camera control.  A beta version is available for testing until March 31, 2001.   Click here for more information.

All SBIG cameras except the STV and ST-4:

• CCDSOPS for Windows 95/98/NT. In June of 1998 SBIG released CCDOPS for Windows 95 (version 4.x), a full 32 bit program that supports all SBIG and PixCel cameras except the STV and ST-4.  It has since been updated to operate under Windows 98 and NT.  CCDOPS for Windows 95/98/NT matches CCDOPS for DOS virtually feature-for-feature, including Auto Grab, Color Grab, AO-7 Support, etc.   In addition it includes all of the tri-color merge functions of CCDCOLOR and supports color combining images from all of our cameras except the ST-4.  With the release of CCDSoft version 5 our CCDOPS camera control program is now available for free download.   Click here to download CCDOPS for Windows 95/98/NT version 4.21.  You can preview the changes made to successive versions of CCDOPS up to and including version 4.20 in the Readme File which is also included in the archive.
  Instructions:  Download the installation file into a temporary directory, then click on the file to install the program.

• Windows NT Users:  CCDOPS for Windows 95/98 version 4.10 or later supports Windows NT.
  
• NT and Win 2000 users should download the following patch (NTAdminPatch.zip) to allow accessing the SBIG parallel port based cameras in non-Administrator mode.  Unzip the files to a temp directory then follow the instructions in the NTAdminPatch.txt file.

STV Only:

• STVREMOTE.  For remote operation, the STV video camera and autoguider has its own remote operating software provided with the camera (STVREMOTE) that runs under Windows 95/98.  Windows NT and Windows 2000 are not yet supported but we are working on a version that will run under all these operating systems.  STVREMOTE allows you to control all of the functions of the STV from a remote computer, apply flat frame correction to STV image files and also saves STV images as bitmap files.  STVREMOTE only works with an STV camera.  This archive file (1.8M) contains the setup files for a complete installation of STV Remote version 1.15 which fixed a bug that caused the program to abort when files were not selected after a menu command was invoked.  Download the file remote115.zip [Released ver. 1.15] and unzip the archive into a temporary directory.  Once you have extracted all the setup files into a temporary directory run Setup.exe from the temporary directory to install the program.

• Updates to STVREMOTE.  If you have already installed STV Remote from the floppy disks you can update just the *.exe file to save download time.  Download the file STV  Remote.exe (164k) and place it in your existing STV Remote directory.  It will overwrite your old STV Remote.exe file.

• CCDOPS for DOS or Windows 95/98/NT.  In addition, STV users may wish to download CCDOPS for DOS (see Section II above) or CCDOPS for Windows 95/98/NT (above).  CCDOPS will not control the STV camera but it will read and save STV image files in several different formats such as TIFF and FITS.  CCDOPS will also perform many more image processing functions than STVERMOTE.     

• Batch Convert STV files to TIFF or FITS.  STV users may also wish to download one of the freeware programs written by Dave Lane at St. Mary's University.  These DOS utilities will batch convert SBIG image files (including STV files) to FITS or TIFF.  For more information click on this link to Dave Lane's home page.

ST-4 Only:

• A freeware software program called ImCap was written by an ST-4 user, Howard C. Anderson.  ImCap will control the image capture (but not autoguiding) functions of the ST-4 under Windows 95/98.  Click here for more information and download instructions.

• CCDSoft version 4 by Software Bisque is a complete Windows 95/98 image processing software program that includes camera control and telescope control.  CCDSoft will control both the imaging and autoguiding funcitons of the ST-4.  A demo verison of CCDSoft version 4 is available for free from SBIG on CDROM.  Please contact Steve or Alice at (805) 571-7244 or e-mail sbig@sbig.com and request the demo CDROM containing CCDSoft.  Please also note the special installation instructions for CCDSoft from the demo disk.    

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Section V.  Macintosh Users

• ST-4 users can download ccd.hqx [ver 1.50].
  
• ST-4 Beta Testers can download ccd1r6.hqx [ver 1.6 Beta]. This is a fat-binary version which is now native on the Power PC Macs. New features include Balloon Help, Apple Guide Help and support for the Port Juggler.
  
• ST-4X, ST-5, ST-6, ST-7, ST-8, PixCel 255 and PixCel 237 users can download the Released version ops390.hqx [ver 3.90].  This has been updated for the Appearance Manager, fixed all known bugs in 3.52 and 3.71 and added a few features. In 3.82 we fixed a bug with Printing on some systems and a bug with the Color Table Command on some systems.  In 3.90 we added support for the ST-9E.

[Note:  These files require the latest Stuffit Expander utility.   If you have touble expanding these files witn an older version of this utility you can click here to get the latest version]

[Note:  At this time we do not have Macintosh support for the AO-7]

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Section VI.  PlanetMaster Software

Windows 95/98 software for the ST-5C and ST-237 (including the PixCel 255 and PixCel 237):

• PlanetMaster:  This specialized software is designed to enhance the planetary imaging capabilities of the ST-5C and ST-237 cameras.  Due to their fast download times and relatively small pixels, these cameras are ideally suited for taking high resolution images of the planets.   PlanetMaster software automates the process of capturing the "best sharp" or "best peak" image from a sequence of automatically captured images and will also automatically scan a directory of previously saved images to assign a Figure of Merit for sharpness to each image in the directory.  PlanetMaster is available for free download.

• Click here to find out more about PlanetMaster software.

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Section VII.  CCDSharp Users

• CCDSharp users should download sharp104.zip [ver 1.04].  
  
  Instructions: Unzip this file and copy the resulting CCDSharp.EXE file into your CCDSharp directory.
  

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Section VIII. Custom Software Developers

• Parallel Port Driver.  This Application Note describes the Parallel Port Driver for interfacing to ST-7, ST-8, PixCel255 and PixCel 237 cameras with custom PC software.  You might also want to download the driver pardrv.zip (for PC) or pardrv.hqx (for Mac) which contains sample code (PC) and a .H file and library file for including with your projects.
  
• Linux Support.  Steve Ashe has developed Linux support for the ST-5C, ST-237 (PixCel 237), ST-7, ST-8, CFW8 and AO-7 under license from SBIG.  This announcement describes the latest developments and includes a link to Steve's ftp site.
  
• Using Parallel Port Cameras with Borland Delphi.  Download the archive file:  Delphi.zip for help on linking to our cameras with Delphi.  This has been provided by a kind user Brian Warner.  He can be reached at brianw_mpo@compuserve.com  

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Section IX.  Manuals

   The following manuals in PDF format are now available for free download.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the files.  If you do not have Adobe Acrobat, a free version is available from the Adobe web site.

• ST-4 CCD
• ST-4 CCDUTIL
• ST-4 CCBLINK
• ST-4 CCDTRACK
• ST-5C
• ST-237
• ST-7E, ST-8E and ST-9E
• STV (Including STVREMOTE)
• AO-7
• CCDOPS for DOS
• CCDOPS for Windows 95/98/NT and Macintosh